Improvement in self-loading fire-arms



C. M. SPENCER.

Magazine Gun.

Patented Mar. 6, 1860.

lol

U-lvlrtu).l STATES PATENT OFFICE.

o. iu. SPENCER, oFsoU'rH MANCHE-STER,,coNNacfrioUfL IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-LOAING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 271.393, dated March` 6, 1860.

`To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, C. M. SPENCER, of

'y South Manchester, in the county of Hartford in condition in their relative positions at one stage in the operation of loading. Fig. 3 is a top view of the same, having the breech-holder partly broken away to expose the breech. Fig. 4 is' a transverse .section right through lthe breech. Fig. 5 is a side view of the breech separate from the gun.

Similar letters of'refe'rence indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention consists in an improved mode of locking the movable 'breech vof a breechloading' lire-arm, whereby it is easily opened and closed, and very'rmly secured in place during the explosion of the charge.

- It also consists in certain contrivanceslibr operating in combination with the movable breech for the purpose-of withdrawing the..

cases of the exploded cartridges from the chamber of the barrel and for conducting new cartridges thereinto frolna magazine in t-he stock. 1

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention,I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents the barrel screwed into the breech-.holder B, which is secured by screws to the stock C. E is the movable breech, which is of the rolling kind, consisting of a plate of steel of a thickness greater than the diameter of the bore of the barrel, provided with a pivot or journal, a, on one side, which is fitted to turn in a bearing in one side of the breech-holder B, a portion, B', of whose opposite side is made movable to permit the introduction of the breech, which lits within a parallel cavity in the vsaid holder. The periphericairormofthebreech'is'ihatofmoms c, of different radius, concentric with the journal a, united by planes d e, nearly radial to the center of the said journal. The plane deonstitutes the face of the breech. site side of the breech E to the journal a there is provided a groove, e, which meets a slot, f,

cut rightthrough the breech, said groove and slot being in :line with each ot}1el',and one forming, as it were, a continuation of the other. to receive the sliding bolt F, by which the breech is forced up toward the rear of the barrel. The broad part h (see Fig. 4) of this bolt', which is received in the slot f, is made cavity being of less depth than the groove e,

and of a width suflicient to permit the lever .to move some distance in a direction corresponding or parallel with the movement of the breech without imparting any movement thereto. The said lever is attached to the breech by being furnished with a stud, j, which enters a holein the back of the cavity which is arranged to lie across the said bolt, and to the same sideof thesaid bolt E there is rigidly attached a pin, l, which' enters a recess, m m', in rthe movable plate B ot' the breech-holder. The form of this recess, which is indicated in dotted outline in Figs. 1 and 2, is that of an arc, m, concentric to the journal a of the breech, with an oli'set, m', at the npper end;

The'lever G constitutes the trigger-guard, and when the breech is shut, as shown in Fig. l, the rear endlof the said lever is caught by a spring-catch, p,'arranged under the breechholder B, and in this position of the lever the bolt F enters the opening n and locks the breech .in a closed condition.

The face d of the breech need not be ,fitted to make a tight joint With the. rear muzzle of In the oppo- In the outer side of the sliding b olt F there -is formed a recess, k, to receive the lever G,

`is shown in the chamber in red outline.

To open the breech, the catch p is pulled back to liberate the lever G, and thesaid lever is then drawn tlown away from the stock. During the first partof the movement of the said lever` the breech does not move with it,

owing to the play provided in the cavity7 i for' ing n; but by the time the bolt F is drawnY the lever comes in contact with the side ot the cavity i, and moves the breech to the position shown in Fig. 2, thus permitting a cartridge to be introduced by hand through the rear muzzle of the barrel, or permitting one to be received in front of the face d 'of the breech from the magazine I that is formed in the stock.

In moving the lever back to close the breech the lever does not move in the cavity i till the breech is nearly closed, butit is caused to move the breech by the pin lof the bolt being contined to the concentric portion m of the groove m m. Just as the breech is nearly closed the pin l arrives in the osetportion m of the groove m m', and permits the bolt F to be moved up into the opening n to tighten. and lock the breech by the movement of the lever G in the cavity z' of the barrel.

ln the sideof the breech E opposite to thaton which the leverG is arranged is a cavity to receive a slide, H, uponsvhich the hammer K acts to cause the explosion ot the charge. The cartridge is intended to contain in its rear part percussion priming, which will be caused to explode by being punctnred, and the slide H is furnished with a point, q, ot' suitable character to produce such puncture when the said slide is driven forward by the hammer falling against it. The said slide is attached to the breech by a screw or pin, r, which passes through a slot in the slide and is fast in the breech.

0n the smaller are, I), of the face of the breech there is a narrow serrated projection, u, whose duty is to catch the flanges of the cases otl the exploded cartridges, .and to pull them out from the chamber as the breech opens;

and in the opening n of the breech-holder there is-arranged a tongue, J, which is hinged at t to the breech-holder at the back of the said opening, and which has a spring, s, so applied as to cause its front extremity always tov bea-r upon the breech. This tongue, as the breech opens, drops down over the face d onto the smaller arc of the breech, and so serves to prevent the exploded cartridge ease from dropping back into the cavity of the breechsupporter, and to guide it out ot' the said cavity as the serrated projection u draws it out of the chamber. This tongue also serves to prevent the cartridges dropping out ofthe magazine when the breech is opened, and to conduct tlem therefrom into a proper position in front ot' the face d of the breech, as shown in Fig. 1, to be forced into the chamber by the act ot' closing the breech,

The cartridges may be forcedfrom the magazine I, as required, by a spring, or they may be iliade to drop, one at a time, into the cavity of the breech holder, when the breech is opened, by holding the gun muzzle-downward. As the breech closes it pushes the tongue J upward out. of its way. To prevent the proper operation ofthe said tongue being obstructed by the locking-bolt, the end of the latter is grooved t0 let the tongue work in it, and the front end ot' the said tongue is groovedto allow the projection u to pass it without interference. y

W'hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-' 1. The combination ot' the rolling breech E, the lever G, and sliding locking-bolt F, the whole fitted and applied substantially as herein set forth.

2. The slide H, applied to the rolling breech,

and operating in combination with the hammer,

substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. The combination of the serrated projection n on the rolling breech and the tongue J, applied and operating, substantially as herein described, within the opening in the breechsupporter. n C. M. SPENCER.

VitneSseS.

' J. S. STRONG, M. WELLES. 

